- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
Harris poll for Guardian finds people reconsidering major life events such as having children or buying a home
Americans are reconsidering major life events including marriage, having children and buying a home amid economic anxiety in the opening months of the Trump presidency, according to an exclusive poll for the Guardian.
Six in 10 Americans said the economy has affected at least one of their major life goals, according to the Harris poll, citing either lack of affordability or anxiety around the current economy.
Though Donald Trump’s tariff policies have only been in place for a few weeks, and though he has temporarily walked back on some of his harshest policies, the findings are a sign that Trump’s economic agenda could have long-term effects.
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Can you imagine how many babies they’d get if labor and delivery were free? How many parents would return to the work force if child care were free (or affordable)? It’s cheaper for republicans to trap people in poverty.
Republicans: We want Americans to have more babies!
The science on how to make more babies: Stop electing Republicans!
Yeah personally I just don’t have any interest in living in a Nazi society, is that weird? My upbringing taught me that a Nazi society is antithetical to life and so far that has been 100% true, is that weird? Should anyone want to be a Nazi?
Poor uneducated people are disenfranchised within our current form of government. Instead of fighting their oppressors, they surprisingly give up more of their power to those oppressors. They do this willingly and enthusiastically to join the in-group on the surface level while reaping none of the benefits. In fact it will cost much of Trump’s base severely.
As a boomer whose parents (both) were in world war 2, I listened to what the horrors that were perpetrated by the fascists and axis on the daily until I was a teen. I saw shows, testimonials and documentaries that all disappeared in the late 70’s and replaced with tamer stuff. I would rather die than live in a fascist regime.
If you see it on the view of the Nazis they think they are the ones who have been persecuted for having to obstain from saying the ‘n’ word as so much worse a tragedy they’ve had to endure all these decades.
If you’re considered weird to that mentality; I’d take it as a compliment.
Yeah it’s very much like that thing, “I’ve seen what makes you cheer, your boos mean nothing to me”
Now, what I do want to say is this: having spent my career surrounded by blue-collar men, there are about 1/3 of them that are the actual ringleaders for fascism. Whatever their camp is. Of the remaining 2/3, I would say half on a good day are still tolerable people. Misled, narrow-minded, problematic, check check check. But tolerable. And capable of being spoken to.
Union organizers know what I’m talking about. You’ve gotta divide the workers into camps you can get to, and camps you’ll never get to. It’s part of the process, I’ve read the books.
Now, those guys. They deserve to have the right people talking to them. It’s not their fault the education system failed them. The media lies to them. That bullies seem to win everywhere they look.
But for me, rn at this point in my career, fuck em. I’m done. I’ve tried. Over and over again. Fights, had em. I work for myself now and the less I talk to other electricians IRL the better. They can all suck a big fat one.
:deep sigh:
Eventually, my position may change.
I’m an elder millennial. I feel like my life has spent more time on hold than otherwise. Economic crisis, plague, not-really-a-war-but-war, more economic crisis, watered down dictator. . .
Can I just die already?
It’s like our lives are written like a book about Russian history where every chapter ends with “… and then it got worse”.
Gen X, here. Feel the same. Move forward two steps, stop. Back up one, stop. Take three forward, take 4 back. Move up one. Etc. X got lucky with cheaper college and sometimes you could find affordable homes, but damn. It feels like treading water and maybe occasionally swallowing some since forever.
Can I just die already?
I feel this. I also used to believe in and not mind the idea of reincarnation, but Jesus Christ would I hate to come back. I didn’t procreate because I know there’s nothing good on the horizon for future generations. It’s become a nightmare to think I may ever have to come back again.
No you can’t die! We need more hard workers in the workforce! How else will your boss and bosses boss afford that extra house, car, and vacation time?
If you need hard workers, I am not your man.
Fn same
Millennials are also the first generation to really lean into child free lifestyles too, usually out of necessity not because we hate babies. We got fucked and had the audacity to throw a wrench in the machine of not following orders and being clones of our parents
“A crisis is coming!”
Well I’ve been in crisis since I got laid off at Christmas so everyone, welcome to the show.
Before that I’ve been trying to come out of my crises since Covid fucked my life up, still not fixed that.
And then going back, my life is still hugely derailed from the past 2.5 decades of crises, macro and micro.
So yeah it’s just more of the same over here.
I’ve been trying to get back to the life I had before it blew up in 2008. My 26 year old son says that the Bush Economic Crash of 2008 looms large in the lives of his friends. Many in his generation had their entire lives thrown into chaos in the middle of their childhoods, giving them a wired in sense of foreboding toward their future. They know that no matter how good your life is, the government can destroy your life with mindless policies designed to benefit a tiny few elites, at the expense of everyone else.
No wonder that so many young people are thinking that Socialism/ Marxism/ Communism sounds like a reasonable alternative to whatever arbitrary system we have now.
The entire image of America sold to me as a child was a lie and I’m having a very difficult time rectifying that.
No wonder that so many young people are thinking that Socialism/ Marxism/ Communism sounds like a reasonable alternative to whatever arbitrary system we have now.
Plenty of societies have demonstrated that socialist policies do work. It’s sometimes called the “Nordic model”. We have the blueprint, but America is neoliberal (aka oligarchic/neo-feudal) and those who hoard all the wealth and power will not give any of it up without a fight.
Marxism/Communism has noble ends - a classless, stateless, truly equal and equitable society - but there no viable means to such an end, as history has demonstrated, due to the innate wickedness and selfishness of human nature.
The successful systems are the ones that still reward innovation, ambition, effort, and vision, but use regulation to prevent too much consolidation. Even the founders of the US recognized this, which is why we have “anti-trust” laws, a trust being any kind of captured control that stifles competition. Unfortunately, they have been left to rot on the vine, gone unenforced, and even deliberately weakened by neoliberal policy that aims to strengthen and cement an anticompetitive, consolidatory, neo-feudal caste of ur-nobility.
My faith that things could be better was snuffed out during COVID. I watched the true empathy gap between myself and those who couldn’t be bothered to do the bare minimum without whining like a 5-year-old throwing a tantrum. What optimism I had for a better life for my child vanished in 2020. I’m a shell of the person I used to be.
I don’t know what the future holds, but if it gets much worse, I don’t know how I’ll survive.
Try voting Republicans out.
I keep waiting for everyone to catch up. The solution isn’t hard. 🤷♂️
I do my best every two years or so. It’s like trying to put out the sun with a mouthful of water in this state.
The message isn’t for you, then, but for the 2/3 Americans who got us here.
Do you think anyone here has been voting Republican?
No but it’s likely many people here simply didn’t vote or aren’t Americans.
Amazing seeing these responses. 2/3 Americans either voted for Trump or didn’t think it was important enough to bother with.
someone posts about basically being suicidal
HMMM TRY DOING THIS THING THAT HASN’T WORKED AND YOU PROBABLY DID ALREADY! HMMM HMMM I’M SMARTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, IT’S LIKE, DUH, THAT’S THE SOLUTION HA HA EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD CATCH UP HA HA I DON’T CARE THAT YOU’RE IN SO MUCH DESPAIR YOU WANT TO DIE, MY SOLUTION ISN’T VERY HARD🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Sometimes even empty platitudes of hope can help a deeply depressed person.
If only it was one
The entire country is suffering from narcissistic abuse Sure some are enabling it but we’re all suffering
It’s like a family death. You’re in trauma for a year and have to put off any major life decisions because of brain fog and anxiety.
Trump doesnt get what that impact does doesnt do anything for business and is unsustainable.
Then again he did bankrupt a bunch of casinos so it’s really on the public for voting him full well knowing he’s a convicted criminal and liar.
Even if the economy recovers and we don’t enter a “recession” none of the other Millennials I know are ever gonna be able to trust the federal government again. In my experience, as a demographic, we tended to lean LibLeft anyway, or at least those of us with IQs and test scores to stay out of remedial classes do. There are exceptions - we all know that guy, and it’s always a guy. But still.
…
Sorry I had more but I got distracted by the sounds of birds in my yard and, well 🤷♂️
This is a weird connection to make, but since this started happening, my wife and I have been unintentionally saving money.
I don’t think we’re doing it ‘on purpose’, but instead of the usual stream of random frivolity, we’re just sort of trimming back, and as a result, find ourselves with extra money to transfer to savings when we look at our accounts.
I think we’re both just trying to be ready, should we need extra resources for whatever reason.Im Canadian and avoiding American products has saved me a lot of money, so much junk food we don’t need is American, and the off brand Canadian versions are even better and cheap. I never realized how much of my money went to American junk until this tariff thing, so I’ve stopped buying anything i don’t NEED
Yeah same, we’re saving because we dont know if shit could just hit the fan. I’m actually in the process of converting 50% of my savings into foreign currency. The US is finally on its way out
That’s a surefire way into a depression. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming any individual for behaving like that. It’s the reasonable thing to do. But for an administration to fuck up that badly in such a short timeframe is just unbelievable.
Yeah i mean, we actually spent a little more last month to stock up on stuff. We haven’t really felt the “tariffs” yet except for some temu orders I cancelled. But if it stays the current course we want to be safe.
Realistically trump has just been adding alot of uncertainty. Its annoying he doesn’t have a real plan and just reacts
One of the nicer words for that type of politician is “reactionary”.
What currency are you going for?
For me, Euros. I am aligned with the concept of democracy and civil rights, so it feels natural to participate with their economy. Plus, they have an ocean dividing them and US, so they have a bit of insulation when our streets start being painted red.
Mind, I am also tempted to drop about $3k for a gold bar from CostCo.
Interesting. Well, I already live in the Eurozone but never thought I’d see the day where Americans would buy a lot of Euros
I never thought I would be thinking of buying gold. Seemed like sucker shit. Yet here we are.
Yup. Apparently the same gold bar from Costco was about $2k a year ago. I have been doomspending as of late, stocking on stuff and renovating, since I don’t believe in the American Dollar anymore. Up to a year ago, I was seriously trying to develop my wealth, slowly but steadily, expecting to cash out in a couple decades.
Now…well, what is the point? The death rattle of our institutions makes it clear that there is no good future to rely upon.
Euro/yen when the exchange rates are favorable.
Interesting. Well, I already live in the Eurozone but never thought I’d see the day where Americans would buy a lot of Euros
Trump is the new covid?
Side effects include: Diarrhea of the mouth Puckered eyes Orangification Everything computer
Cure: Inject bleach
That would certainly resolve the Trump problem.
Trump was the original COVID too
I was really hoping it was all gonna blow over by Easter, too.
Yes, he also kind of made a mess of that.
He’s certainly a pestilence. We have over a thousand cases of smallpox in the US right now, and it’s growing rapidly.
I think you mean measles? I don’t think smallpox has made a comeback yet (it was globally declared eradicated in the 80s)
Oh how the time doesn’t fly. This will be the longest four years ever with the question lingering, will we even be allowed out? Will there be enough leftover to rebuild from? Will we learn the right lessons before its too late? 2042 isnt far off :/
Rebuilding could take 10 to 20 years. If he’s shit enough it could take two to six.
If he does Herbert Hoover levels of damage there’s likely to be broad motivation to take heavy handed action to fix it. Re-nationalizing land, nullifying contracts, and disregarding the impact it has on those who invested money or otherwise relied on the changes. Some of the programs being torn apart today are direct responses to trying to fix the problems Hoover caused.
It’s not a lot, but it’s worth remembering that Hoover had a lot of similar stances to Trump. He made things so bad that America elected the closest thing we’ve ever had to democratic socialism, and people liked it so much that they elected him four times and Congress changed the Constitution out of spite.
It could take decades longer than even that. America has experienced mind-boggling collapse in just 4 months. The damage to its reputation will take an entire restructuring of the powers of the executive branch to overcome. I mean, who wants to make a deal with an admin, when every 4 years it can go back on its word?
We still have at least 43 more months to look forward to. The bottom hasn’t even begun to drop.
The compromising of things like voter data and social security databases has really disturbed me. Even if we have the best president in history next, how can we ever trust those systems again when an unknown number of people potentially have backdoor access to that info? I think a lot is going to need to be scrapped and rebuilt from zero if we’re supposed to have confidence in it. It’s not like the normal stuff like when we get a crummy EPA or FCC person and we can just roll some policies back or what have you, we have been severely exposed to unknown parties about many of the most private and personal levels.
It is one of the reasons why a civil war would actually do America good: for security’s sake, the non-fascist side would have to overhaul their systems.
This is the stupidest timeline, that the best solution to a problem lines up with social armageddon.
I really don’t want to see people crossing the line to war/terrorism. I guess it would be the fastest way to get impactful change, but likely at a high cost. Destabilization also seems much easier than establishing a new system that enough people are happy with without fracturing again. That’s also assuming the side we’re on comes out on top.
We don’t necessarily need something catastrophic to build back. We just need to seriously learn from the mistakes we’ve allowed, not just to smooth things over with words and by ignoring transgressions.
If we get a new Theodore and Franklin as our presidents, that certainly would be preferable. Unfortunately, I have the feeling that isn’t happening. Unlike those days of yore, we got a president who wants to be king, and cares not who else has to pay the price for it.
Best I can do for you right now is a slightly used Kamala and a Newsom. (sad laughter)
I was somewhat pleased the other day to see Andy Beshear being mentioned. I’m not an expert on Kentucky politics, but I used to listen to a show from Cincinnatti during Covid, and Basheer seemed to navigate issues in a largely red state well, and he seems to be on what I feel is the right side of many issues. Skimming his wiki page quickly, I don’t see any controversies, and actually a few more good things I wasn’t aware that he managed to accomplish.
There are still many powerful people with a lot to lose that I don’t think are interested in seeing the US go fully off the rails, plus the head of the MAGA cult of personality is an old and unhealthy person, so we may yet get to see the movement run out of steam naturally before it is too late. I’d like this BS stopped yesterday of course, but I don’t want a violent leftist government any more than I do a violent right government. I’m neither rich nor well connected, so either would be bad for me and the people I care about.
I mean, who wants to make a deal with an admin, when every 4 years it can go back on its word?
This certainly isn’t unique to the US. It may be more pronounced here at this moment in time but that wouldn’t have been true 20 years ago. The system hasn’t changed in that time. The same can happen anywhere else with the right conditions.
That’s very true. It’s less that it can happen, and more that it’s happening with virtually every trade agreement at once, along with dozens of diplomatic norms.
That said, the authority of the executive is undeniably stronger today than back then. Congress has acquiesed its authority and powers on virtually every issue imaginable and it alternates between being too complicit and too incompetent to change that (and too gridlocked to achieve meaningful policy anyway).
There are too many metastisizing issues to count at this point.
The soft power will take the longest to repair, but 40-50 years is a bit long. That’s on par with how long it took for us to build most of it in the first place.
Four years? That’s might optimistic. Trump’s already planning for a third term. He’s not leaving the oval office alive.
Meanwhile the little “color in the thermometer” progress chart on the back of the Project 2025 workbook is nearly half filled.
Theres always the chance that the US Balkanizes or the feds become otherwise irrelevant because of cascade failures. Remember the US has about a dozen empire destroying issues in the oven and Trump not only turned up the heat but threw in like 12 more.
My life has never been off of hold…
Would be nice if the job I trained the better part of a decade for paid more than living expenses.
Ever generation has less than 1/2 of the wealth as the previous, eventually we are just slaves
I’ve been doing this my whole life.
I am reconsidering by thinking of moving out of the country lmao
Would he just have a coronary already.
These polls are misleading. 4 in 10 Americans have always supported Trump regardless of what he does. That hasn’t changed.
Maybe it’s significant that he’s lost support from the other 2 in 10 who voted for him, but if they seriously thought that he was the best candidate during the 2024 election, then their opinions aren’t based on critical thinking either.
4 in 10 who actually vote. Trump only ever won ~30% of the popular vote when you count all of the people who couldn’t bother to get off the couch. If “Didn’t Vote” was a candidate, it would have won by a landslide.
Didn’t vote means one of at least three things:
“I think the candidate i support will win anyways.”
“I don’t care who wins, i will be fine with any of the likely possible candidates.”
“I don’t feel represented by anyone but i feel powerless to get someone on the ballot who represents me.”Unless specifically polling non voters about the reason why they didn’t vote we can’t really tell.
There’s also the hidden fourth option: “I was disenfranchised by republicans, who made voting extremely difficult and/or prohibitively expensive.”
“While the law says that my employer must let me off to go vote, pointing out that fact does not protect me from getting fired in retaliation anyway in an at-will state.”
It is still possible to win wrongful termination suits in at-will states.
Got any lawyers?
I got fired in retaliation for asking for accommodations and pointing out Title 9 violations. That’s not supposed to happen, but lawyers don’t work for free.
Just like your spouse isn’t supposed to be able to kick you out, refuse to file for divorce and drain your bank account. But justice in America costs money.
You need to find lawyers in your area that specialize in employment law. They’ll usually work on contingency. They’d hardly ever have any cases at all if they didn’t.
It helps if you have something like old emails for proof that you asked.
You’re missing one: “The Republicans successfully prevented me from being able to vote”
Many skip voting because they perceive that their state will always vote for the opposite canidate.
It’s a big flaw with the electoral college. It should just be a popular vote
Also, of people who voted he only got 49.9%
Hardly “6/10”
When do you expect the 1/3rd of the country that has never voted to magically show up to vote?
I don’t, for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s apathy, feeling like their vote doesn’t matter, or just outright disenfranchisement, the non-voting block is pretty reliable in that they simply don’t vote.
What changes from one election to the next is more focused on which people don’t vote. If there’s a hot topic that someone cares about, they’ll be more likely to jump through hoops in order to actually cast a ballot. The percentage of non-voters remains relatively stable, but the demographics of those non-voters tends to shift over time. So if one party can incite a particular group to vote, that’s usually considered a win.
You see it with voting pushes all the time. Souls to the polls, the league of women voters, felon re-enfranchisement groups, etc… All focused on getting different demographics to actually vote, because those particular demographics (whatever they are) tend to align with the group’s political beliefs.
When they have someone worth voting for.
You guys keep bringing this up as if the day when those non-voters start voting for Democrats is right around the corner. The percentage of people who don’t vote hasn’t changed much in 100 years. Quit wasting words on people who will never matter in this context.
Literally every single election the talking point is how many people didn’t bother to vote. And it’s always the same percentage. The only time it changed much at all was after Trump killed a few million Americans with his COVID policies. The only way to make any change more is to have a national voting holiday plus compulsory voting.
I’d rather have universal vote by mail. We already have it in multiple states and it works fine. No need to mess with schedules if people can do it on their own time.
It isn’t mutually exclusive. Plus a holiday dedicated to voting means a day is open for researching a candidate, if needed. Also, psychologically, having the purpose of the holiday explicit means that some people will follow the rules of it. There are many prongs to getting people to vote.
The problem with the voting holiday idea, is many people are forced to work every holiday. They are generally the most marginalized people who work in the service industry as well. I used to be one. I was the general manager of a pizza shop and I worked every single holiday, football game, anything you can think of that will keep people from cooking and/or get them drinking. I also scheduled basically the entire staff for those days. It sucked. I told everyone from the start that holidays don’t exist for you anymore in food, but it didn’t stop women with tears in their eyes telling me they never expected they wouldn’t be able to take their kids trick or treating.
I think the way to resolve this is a holiday window for voting. The workers schedule 4 days of the week for work, then the remaining 3 days are paid holidays. The worker selects which days of that holiday week are best for them. If they don’t vote, their company is fined an amount double to the worker’s weekly pay.
I prefer vote by mail, too. However, real-life implementation of it only leads to a roughly 10% increase in voter turnout. That only brings us from 55% turnout to 65% turnout, which is pathetic.
It’s not 4/10.
Most Americans simply did not bother to vote. Trumpers are a minority, it’s just that their hatefulness is artificially amplified by Russian bots.
My family desperately needs a bigger house or an addition but I have no idea if I will ever be able to afford another loan.
